1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a so-called POS terminal (POS: Point Of Sales). More particularly, the invention is concerned with a POS terminal which is easy to manage and operable independently of a store controller connected thereto via a communication line and which can automatically update the program to be executed, contents of a goods information look up (Price Look-Up; PLU) data base, and environment data such as information concerning construction of a peripheral device connected to the POS terminal and information concerning communication settings such as the baud rate, and which performs resending of transaction data after a failure or trouble that has occurred in the store controller or in the communication line is solved. The invention also relates to a POS system having such a POS terminal, a method of controlling the POS terminal, and a data storage medium storing a program implementing the control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A POS system having a POS terminal and a store controller connected thereto has been conventionally used. The POS system receives, through a bar code scanner or a keyboard, various kinds of information such as goods codes identifying items of commercial goods, quantities, discounts, corrections and so forth. Upon receipt of such information, the POS terminal generates sales data such as transaction data, and sends the sales data to the store controller. The store controller stores the sales data and uses the same for the purpose of, for example, accounting calculation.
The transaction data includes data such as the times at which the transaction is started and ceased, the name of the operator operating the POS terminal, and so on, in addition to the data such as the codes of the items of sold commercial goods, the quantities sold, discounts, corrections and so forth. The sales data includes, besides the transaction data, a plurality of kinds of data such as the grand total monetary amount of the sales.
The store controller has a goods information look-up data base which permits retrieval of goods information in accordance with the codes assigned to the respective items of commercial goods. The POS terminal forms the transaction data on the basis of goods information obtained from the goods information look-up data base. Devices such as printing apparatuses, e.g., a printer, and input devices, e.g., a bar code reader or a keyboard, are also connected to the POS terminal. Various kinds of information concerning such peripheral devices, e.g., specifications and communication baud rates, are stored in and managed by the store controller.
Thus, the store controller is required to store two types of information: the administrative information necessary for the operation of the POS system and transaction data generated as a result of operation of the POS system.
In this type of POS system, it is desirable that the POS terminal be inexpensive and yet capable of easily performing administration of operations such as updating of programs which run on the POS terminal.
Hitherto, so called dumb terminals and terminals operable independently of the store controller such as intelligent terminals have been used as the POS terminals.
In the system employing a dumb terminal, all the transaction data are managed by the store controller. The dumb terminal serves only to enable the operator to input commands for processes to be performed by the store controller and to run a program for displaying the results of the processes. Thus, most processes including generation of transaction data are executed by the store controller.
In contrast, when the POS system employs an independently operable terminal such as a computer loaded with an OS (Operating System) such as Windows® (registered trade mark owned by Microsoft Corporation), storage and administration of the transaction data are performed both by the POS terminal and the store controller. The process for generating the transaction data is executed by the POS terminal.
Known POS systems using these POS terminals have the following advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of a POS terminal.
A POS system using dumb terminals as the POS terminals can be set up with reduced initial costs by virtue of the low cost of the POS terminals, and permits easy updating and management of programs because the programs implementing most major processes such as generation of transaction data are executed by the store controller. However, the POS terminals become completely inoperable in the event of failure or trouble occurring in the store controller itself or in the network which interconnects the POS terminals and the store controller. In such an event, accounting processes of the stores or shops have to be suspended.
In contrast, a POS system employing independently operable POS terminals loaded with an OS such as Windows® can maintain the POS terminals alive and operable, even in the event of a failure or trouble occurring in the store controller itself or in the network which interconnects the POS terminals and the store controller, because the transaction data can be stored and managed both by the terminals and the store controller. This type of POS system, however, requires much time and costs for maintaining and updating programs, because the program for generating the transaction data is stored and executed by the respective POS terminals. Consequently, the cost of administrating the system is high. Furthermore, the cost of initial installation is also high because computers capable of incorporating an OS such as Windows® are generally expensive.